1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable pet leash that has a user controlled brake wherein the braking action generated by the brake decelerates, at a gradually increasing rate, the payout of the leash from a leash housing in order to help prevent undue discomfort and injury to a pet using the leash.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Pets, especially dogs, need to be taken outside regularly and allowed to walk or run in order for the dog to do its business as well as to give the dog some exercise and fresh air. While some pet owners have the luxury of allowing their dog to run free, such as dogs on a farm, most dog owners must walk the dog with the dog in close proximity to the owner. Some dogs can be walked independently, that is without being tethered to the dog walker via a leash, however, many other dogs must be walked on a leash. The requirement for a leash is multifold. Many jurisdictions, or even housing neighborhoods have mandatory leash laws requiring dogs, even the smallest of dogs, to be on a leash at all times while outdoors. Such dog walkers place their dog on a leash lest they run afoul of their neighbors or law enforcement. Other dogs are leash walked for the protection of the dog. A dog, even a well-disciplined dog, walking down a busy street may become distracted or otherwise desire to bolt from its owner for a variety of reasons. But for the leash, the dog may run into traffic and be hurt or killed, not to mention the potential for a traffic accident as a driver serves to try and avoid hitting the animal. Some dogs, especially larger dogs are leashed for the protection of others. Even the friendliest of dogs can bite others, such as small children who believe that poking a dog in the eye is great fun. Leashing the dog allows the owner to maintain the dog a safe distance from potential bite victims of the dog.
There are two broad categories of leashes currently being used for dog walking (and cat walking for the brave). The fixed length leash is a single length tether that typically has a handle on the dog walker's end, and a clip on the opposing end that clips onto an appropriate receiver of a collar that encircles a dog's neck. The leash is clipped onto the dog's collar, the walker grasps the handle and the walk or run commences. Tried and true, such leashes find favor with many dog owners. While effective, such leashes are not without their drawbacks. The fixed length nature of the leash does not permit the animal to venture far from its handler. Although this limitation may prove satisfactory in many situations, often the dog desires to venture a bit further from its owner than can be accommodated by such a leash. For example, on a quiet neighborhood street when the handler decides to stop and chat with a neighbor, the dog may want to sniff some trees beyond the reach of the leash. Often, in such situations, the dog may repeatedly try to tug on the leash in order to venture beyond the travel limits of the leash, which repeated tugging is uncomfortable on dog and handler alike. Additionally the leash can become entangled within either the dog's or the handler's legs, especially in longer length fixed length leashes, creating a potential hazard.
To address the limitations of fixed length leashes, variable length leashes have been proposed. These leashes have a housing that has a spool therein, about which the leash is wound. The housing has a handle for ease of holding while the distal end of the leash has the typical clip thereon for clipping the leash onto the dog's collar. When the dog is clipped to the leash and begins to walk and thus move away from the housing, the leash is paid out from the housing, being unwound from the spool. The length of such leashes is usually much longer than a typical fixed length leash allowing the dog to venture farther compared to the fixed length leash. When the dog ventures back toward the leash housing, the leash is retracted back into the housing and wound back about the spool, usually automatically in some appropriate spring-loaded architectures, although some manual rewind systems exist wherein the handler rewinds the leash onto the spool by turning an appropriate crank. Such systems have locks that lock the leash in a fixed length so that if the handler wants the dog at a fixed distance from the handler, for example on a busy street wherein the dog must remain close to the side of the handler, once the desired length of leash is paid out from the housing, a lock is set fixing the length of the leash, the leash cannot neither get longer nor shorter while so locked. Many systems allow the handler to either temporarily hold the leash in this fixed length by maintaining pressure on the brake, or to hold the leash in this fixed length indefinitely by placing the brake into a locked position. This type of leash, while more expensive than a typical fixed length leash, allows a dog to have more independence during a typical walk, while allowing the handler to maintain tight control of the dog when the situation warrants.
While favored by many dog owners, variable length leashes are not without their drawbacks. One of the chief problems with these types of leashes centers on the situation when the owner must suddenly terminate further payout of the leash from the spool. For example, when the dog suddenly darts toward another person walking down the street, the handler needs to terminate further advancement of the dog in order to prevent the other person from becoming scared or injured. To halt further payout of the leash, and thus advancement of the animal, the handler throws the device's brake, locking the spool.
The problem with this braking is that the payout suddenly stops, halting the animal in its tracks. If the dog is running at full stride, suddenly braking the leash to a halt can not only be quite painful, it can also result in injury to the animal. To address these problems, many retractable leash systems have brakes that gradually decelerate under a sudden stop so that the animal is stopped gradually as opposed to suddenly. These systems, which come in a wide variety of architectures and work with varying degrees of efficiency, help prevent discomfort and injury to the animal. However, such systems are not without their drawbacks.
Some systems are relatively simple and place a resilient section of leash at the distal end of the leash in order to act as a deceleration spring. When the leash is suddenly halted due either to braking by the handler, the resiliency of this section of the leash slows the animal down gradually. The problem with these types of deceleration systems is that the resilient portion of the leash must be relatively thin in order to approximate the thickness of the remainder of the leash to assure the leash's proper operation. As such, if the animal pulls hard on the leash, the resilient portion, by being relatively thin, will have a relatively low spring constant, allowing the leash to be stretched relatively far. Once the resilient portion is stretched to its outer limit, this portion snaps back under its spring action. This snap back is uncomfortable to animal and handler alike, and can result in the animal stumbling from this unexpected reversal of course. Still other systems use a step brake deceleration system that has a brake latch contact and ride over several one way ramps before finally becoming ensnared by such a ramp and halting spool unwind. This type of system causes a bumpy and jagged deceleration which is very uncomfortable to animal and handler alike. Still other systems are unusually complex in design and construction so as to make such systems relatively expensive to produce. Additionally, the complexity of such systems increases the potential for failure of the device resulting in the need to repair the device or replace the device.
What is needed is retractable leash that has gradual deceleration of the leash when payout is halted due to the handler engaging the brake of the device, which retractable leash overcomes the above stated shortcoming found in the art. Specifically, such a retractable leash must be able to gradually decelerate the leash payout so as to help prevent discomfort and injury to the dog, and possibly the handler, in a smooth efficient manner. The retractable leash must not have a sudden rapid snap back of the leash whenever the animal's progress is halted due to leash braking. The gradual deceleration of the retractable leash must be smooth, not bumpy or jagged. The retractable leash must be of relatively simple design so as to be relatively easy to produce and maintain.